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I don’t know what to do with my career.. am i being picky?


BanksC

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Hello everyone!

So quite a long one..

 

I have been working in my job since March 2018, I work in a call centre for a bank. At first, I really liked the job, you had training for weeks so you werent thrown on the job straight away, pay is amazing with it increasing after training.. a lot of benefits like pension, rewards etc!

My shift pattern is a 4 on 4 off, i work 4 days then im off for 4, and they are 11 hour shifts with 1 hour lunch and 3x 15 min computer breaks. So at first I thought amazing, mini break every week!

Before this I was a bar maid, I had the potential to move up but I didn’t want to work behind a bar anymore. I said to myself I would never work in a call centre, i can barely make a phone call to someone myself nevermind me taking them!

 

So, it’s been a tough year with anxiety/depression, after around 2/3 months I finally told them about it as it was having a bad effect on my job and health, I was suffering from more migraines but I put this down to the shift pattern also, it’s such long hours stuck behind a computer! I requested a shift pattern change, to shorter hours over 5 days - they said they’d try but can’t do it because of “business reasons” .

 

I have slowly come to hate the job, at the beginning everything is basically sold to you for e.g. you’re told about the opportunities available, like moving departments, promotion etc.. but don’t tell you you’ve got to be there for a lengthy period of time first, you aren’t entitled to half the benefits until after a year.. which i understand a lot of places are like this! but we never got told that until the last month or so...

Then we have a coach, mentoring us throughout the whole training process, after training your in whats like a learning school, you have mentors all around you incase you need instant help on a call and this usually goes on until your whole group is ready to work on their own - roughly 4-6 months. You’re meant to have ONE coach, ONE. We have had ours change 8-9 times, from people having to leave, someone being promoted, one wasn’t trained enough.. and each one has had their own teaching techniques.. some telling us no dont do that while others say yes.. so we end up in the deep end if we do something wrong!! and that has been picked up on by our manager - who had to clarify half the things we learn. No other team has had this many coaches, we are still in “learning school” its like being thrown about like a ragdoll.

 

Also, as soon as i told them about my anxiety.. at first they were all okay brilliant we will help you.. I’ve had one occupational health call and a number to ring incase i need help.. so no actual support from my manager just thrown to the side.

Last but not least the actual job itself feels claustrophobic, like i have no where to go/move upwards.. I don’t want to be stuck in a dead in career but I feel like if i keep moving from job to job, surely this will look bad on a CV? how do i answer why i was only there for a short period of time?

 

I don’t know what career is right for me, i guess this is more of a rant than advice, but I’d love to hear if someone has experienced this before, what should i do should i stick it out for longer? then look? or leave while I can?

 

Thank you so much for reading, apologies for writing a bible haha x

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Me personally, I'd leave. But I am not you. You are not happy there so looking for another job is a good idea. If you can afford to just quit, you can do that. If you really need the money you would have to hang in there and look for a new job at the same time. No it doesnt look good on a resume to hop from job to job, but you have to do what's right for you.

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Also, as soon as i told them about my anxiety.. at first they were all okay brilliant we will help you.. I’ve had one occupational health call and a number to ring incase i need help.. so no actual support from my manager just thrown to the side.

 

It's not your employer's job to manage your anxiety. It's yours. Frankly, you shouldn't have told them anything about it. See your doctor privately, get medication if you need it, again, privately, and figure out how to manage it, again, privately.

 

That goes with any sort of health-related concern. If a health concern interferes with the job, then the person needs to either take leave, or find new doctors.

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Actually, to work 4 days on and 4 days off would be a dream schedule for me --- i could go on short trips, sleep, go to a class, etc to move up - I think instead of quitting, you need a new job offer in hand. Have you seen a therapist to find out some coping mechanisms for anxiety? why not use your days off to rest, to go down to the employment center and figure out what type of job might be for you, etc.

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Well, in a previous post you said you suffered from depression and anxiety, so the job is probably making them worse. You also said that you haven't finished a degree and you don't know what courses to take. You might want to find a career counselor and find out what career you can go into that won't enhance your depression and anxiety. I would say your idea of going into medicine would be even more stressful than dealing with customer phone calls, and maybe you're better suited for admin / office jobs. Or maybe even go back to waitressing. Sometimes you can make more money doing that than a fancy job with a college degree. But right now you're just drifting around and you've got to get into a profession where you're not going to stress out and have migraines or else you're going to have a short life.

 

At this point, I would be worried about your health and not your CV. The bank knows that people leave the job you're doing in droves and don't stay, that's why they withhold benefits. And any interview will know too. The job is not worth getting sick over.

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Me personally, I'd leave. But I am not you. You are not happy there so looking for another job is a good idea. If you can afford to just quit, you can do that. If you really need the money you would have to hang in there and look for a new job at the same time. No it doesnt look good on a resume to hop from job to job, but you have to do what's right for you.

I couldn’t afford to quit, but it’s a 4 weeks notice anyway so im going to get looking or get some advice on what to do i think from a career counsellor like someone said below!

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It's not your employer's job to manage your anxiety. It's yours. Frankly, you shouldn't have told them anything about it. See your doctor privately, get medication if you need it, again, privately, and figure out how to manage it, again, privately.

 

That goes with any sort of health-related concern. If a health concern interferes with the job, then the person needs to either take leave, or find new doctors.

 

No i completely knew it wasn’t there job, but it was interfering with the likes of my confidence on the phone, I was having more panic attacke etc.. we also have private healthcare through work so I thought they had the right to know. They always went on about health and well being and how they can “help” so thats why I did but I wish i didn’t. I’ve seen a GP about it and i’m on a waiting list but I’ll probably end up going privately for it.

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Actually, to work 4 days on and 4 days off would be a dream schedule for me --- i could go on short trips, sleep, go to a class, etc to move up - I think instead of quitting, you need a new job offer in hand. Have you seen a therapist to find out some coping mechanisms for anxiety? why not use your days off to rest, to go down to the employment center and figure out what type of job might be for you, etc.

it was at the beginning! I can get so much done etc in the 4 days but it becomes like a holiday.. so on the 4th day you really dont want to go back! and the 4 days in are quite tiring on a phone 4 days straight basically!

I was offered to go to a panic attack group, I attended one session but I hated it. My whole anxiety is based around social events/interacting.. which they knew and what they give me was exactly what i feared! So i’ll be looking into other things

I never thought of an employment centre! i always imagined those were for the likes on unemployed etc but i’ll give that a look!

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Well, in a previous post you said you suffered from depression and anxiety, so the job is probably making them worse. You also said that you haven't finished a degree and you don't know what courses to take. You might want to find a career counselor and find out what career you can go into that won't enhance your depression and anxiety. I would say your idea of going into medicine would be even more stressful than dealing with customer phone calls, and maybe you're better suited for admin / office jobs. Or maybe even go back to waitressing. Sometimes you can make more money doing that than a fancy job with a college degree. But right now you're just drifting around and you've got to get into a profession where you're not going to stress out and have migraines or else you're going to have a short life.

 

At this point, I would be worried about your health and not your CV. The bank knows that people leave the job you're doing in droves and don't stay, that's why they withhold benefits. And any interview will know too. The job is not worth getting sick over.

Funny enough I’ve been saving to do a counselling course at home, but i’ve been holding back because I want to be in a secure job to pay for it. I’ve realised something of long hours interferes with my health, but only recently with this job. I hadn’t had a migraine for years or many panic attacks before this!

I’m going to take your advice on seeking career counselling and help and even go to a employment centre to see what help i can get.

Thank you!

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